Star Wars: Empire & Rebellion: Razor’s Edge was written by Martha Wells. This Expanded Universe tale takes place during the Rebellion era, 2 ABY (2 years after the Battle of Yavin).
SUMMARY
The Gamble, an alliance ship is thrown into a tough situation right off the bat. The ship, which contains a small crew including Leia and Han, drop out of hyperspace and are immediately attacked. The crew were on a mission to acquire materials for Echo-Base. The attack raises the big question… how did the Empire know where The Gamble was dropping out of hyperspace? It appears that there is a deep cover Imperial Agent within the rebel group.
The Gamble is now in need of repair after successfully fleeing the Imperial attack. Contact is made with a pirate ship which turns out to be full of former Alderaanians!
The story is all about building trust, relationships, and a fight of survival.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
This book was fine. It starts off really strong and exciting, throwing Leia, Han, and a few others into a dangerous situation. I found this story to be okay overall. It has filler vibes, just a blip on the timeline, but written well. I wasn’t bored with the story, but not excited either.
I think the greatest thing about this book is the characterization of our leads, Han and Leia. In the films we get to see the friction between the two, this book dives deeper into the frustration these characters feel toward each other. Han really does come across as a difficult man to work with, hard headed and prefers to go rogue instead of following orders. I like that we get into Leia’s mind and her thoughts toward Han. She understands his distrust for others. I do think that Leia comes across a bit too harsh at times with a lot of attitude.
The banter between Leia and Han was great. However, the characters use air quotes with fingers to be sarcastic, which I thought was a dumb thing to put in the book
The story takes a route that made me think of a YA storyline. When Leia meets with the other Alderaanians they get hooked into meeting up with some other Pirates. It turns into a fight for survival game, it made me think of Hunger Games or Ender’s Game… that sort of thing. I am thankful though that the game they play wasn’t through the entire book. For me though, it went on a bit too long.
I’d say this book will be forgettable, the only takeaway is the stuff between Leia and Han; maybe the interaction with the Alderaanian pirates.
Do I recommend you read this story? Eh… sure. It wasn’t bad.
RATING
I will give Star Wars: Razor’s Edge, a B-.